Montaillou
The ruin of the enigmatic castle in Montaillou (Château de Montaillou), in the Arriège region, in France. A long time ago, in the 13th century, it was a remote stronghold of the Cathars.

Up to this very day you can still find the same names on tombstones in Montaillou’s graveyard (and in neighboring villages like Prades, Comus or Camurac), which were already present 700 years ago, in the files of the Inquisition.

The legendary treasure of the Cathars is rumoured to have been hidden on this site by a bunch of fellow fighters who were able to escape from the besieged ‘Château de Monségur’ (about 15km. to the north).

Borde de Brézilhou
I found this abandoned house, the “Borde de Brézilhou”, in the “Forêt de Sainte-Colombe”, close to Nébias, in the Aude region, in the South of France.

The house was built deep down in a gorge, far removed from the village of Nébias.

It is not far removed from a bizarre labyrinth of massed rocks called “Le Labyrinthe”.

It is said that the place was still inhabited at the beginning of the 20th century.

It remains unclear (to me) what the purpose of the site was. Who were these people? Were they hunters? Forresters? Or border guards? Or is it only one ruined structure left from a hamlet on this rather unlikely spot?

Märklin memories
When I go to work, to one of my garden maintenance sites and I make a small detour, I drive past this otherworldly shop of model railway toys. The shop is located on the outskirts of Leuven (Belgium), in an almost rural environment.

It is focused on “Märklin”, a German company which produced these toys as early as 1859.

And then there was this small shop in a sunny backstreet, in my hometown, in the mid Sixties, selling Märklin trains. Exclusive seller of Märklin stuff! Fatal attraction.

We were utterly spoiled children, that is, boys a lot more than girls. So we managed to make our parents buy this Märklin stuff, even if they could not really afford it.

Horst Music and Arts Festival 2016-continued
Installations of 3 contemporary artists at the Horst Music and Arts Festival 2016. The festival had its first edition in 2014 and it is already about to burst at the seams at the small castle site.
Artists:

The biggest drone in the world
The biggest drone in the world was on display in the ‘Horst Music & Arts Festival 2016’, in Holsbeek, in the heart of Belgium.

The festival stages the vanguard of electronic rock music (dj sets), but in the wake of the 2 festival nights you can take a tour on the magical site of the Horst castle which is, for the occasion, augmented by sculptural installations delivered by several contemporary artists.
Art: Pieterjan Ginckels/ “Dumb Drone”

In August I went back to the abandoned mill close to Gramat, in the Lot region, in France. I was there 2 years ago and at that time I was not aware of the spiritual value of this place.
But I am now.
The site has this quality of literally existing in a parallel world, sort of a timewarp.
You are there, hiking in the 21th century, you sit, motionless, at the end of the 19th century, and you are asleep there in, say the 12th century.
You go there, and the next moment you are fully absorbed by a microcosm that existed 100 years ago. And, in a strange way, it definitely points to the future.
You can come really close to the mill by car if you want to (500m.), although you will have to hike some 10km. if you want to discover other mills in the canyon.
But it would make no difference.
Suddenly, after descending in the narrow valley, it grabs you and you imagine the old miller, carrying a heavy load, a sack of buckweat…and another one…and another one.
And then it gets kind of mystic: the battered stone walls, ferns, gold and green in shady corners, ace of sunlight through the trees, drops of water, so clear, trickling, slowly trickling deep down there…into the pool, that exists in another time, another place.